Cubs owner Tom Ricketts addresses his players

MESA, Ariz. — Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts stepped into the bright Arizona sunshine Friday and proclaimed a new era in Cubs history — if not in his ownership.

Now entering his third season, Ricketts has emerged from an off-season of monumental change in the baseball-operations department of this franchise.

Instead of looking like a new owner flailing around the baseball business, Ricketts is starting to look like a guy who has hit his stride.

“I don’t know about the hitting-the-stride exactly,” said after addressing the players on the first full day of spring-training workouts. “What I do know is that I feel that this is a real inflection point for this organization. I think we’ve made some changes that are going to pay off in the short run with a great team on the field this year and in the long run with a team that’s going to be competitive every single year. I feel good about it.”

The biggest change was bringing in Theo Epstein from the Boston Red Sox to be president of baseball operations. Epstein brought in general manager Jed Hoyer, field manager Dale Sveum and a beefed-up front office.

“We had a great off-season, we really did, on the front-office side,” Ricketts said. “It’s an inflection point for this organization. I think everyone feels it. So that’s really exciting.”

During a 10-minute chat with media members, Ricketts touched on several topics:

ŸOn whether he’s preaching patience to the fans: “No. We’re not preaching patience. We’re preaching, ‘have expectations.’ Expect these guys to play hard. Expect them to compete every game. Expect them to have a great season. It’s not about patience. We’ve got a good team, and we’re going to have a good year.”

ŸOn whether more tickets are available to sell because of lowered fan expectations: “Season-ticket holder renewals and new season tickets were all off-the-charts good. We do have tickets to sell, in April and May in particular. I think people should know there are good, affordable packages out there. We’ve done a lot over the last couple of years to make sure people know they can bring the family and have a reasonably priced day. We know that the one thing that sells tickets is winning, and that’s what we focus on.”

ŸOn the new “Cubs way” introduced by Epstein that will put into writing the proper ways to play baseball: “Yeah, you do like to hear that ‘Cubs way,’ because what they’re doing is that they’re putting everything down on paper, and everybody’s signing off on it, the scouting manual, the player-development manual. Everybody’s working together to create something that everyone buys into. So not only does it help you be more consistent in the way that you treat players and you train players, everyone buys in. You’re accountable. I think that’s a big part of the Cubs way.”

Ricketts also was asked about some things related to ballpark facilities, both in Chicago and in Arizona, where the Cubs have yet to break ground on a new spring-training facility. He said no groundbreaking date has been set for the spring home but that he hopes the Cubs can open it by 2014.

As for a report the Cubs would have to play one regular season at the White Sox’ home, U.S. Cellular Field, while renovations are made to Wrigley Field, Ricketts flatly denied it and said the Cubs are still working with elected officials “who have an interest” in Wrigley renovations.

“There’s no plans for us to play anywhere else but Wrigley Field,” he said.

Ricketts praised the new field staff, headed by Sveum, but said his own speech to the troops was not a long one.

“It’s a new energy, a new vibe,” he said. “They’re going to be working, I think, a little harder than years past, focusing on some different fundamentals. I think it’s going to be a great camp. I think everybody’s ready to get started.

“My message, we talk about let’s make sure we use all 40 days as best as we can. Just communicate. One of the things I talk about is that if there is something we can be doing better, let us know. We want to be the best organization in baseball. If there’s feedback, make sure it gets back to us so we can do what we can. I talked a little about facilities, how we’re trying to improve that stuff. My speech was pretty short and to the point.”